SENSE Informe resumido

Life-cycle analysis of thin-film solar modules

The result is of scientific nature. The LCA consists of the goal definition and scoping, the inventory analysis, the impact assessment and the improvement assessment. The LCA is performed for the three types of thin-film solar modules considered in the project. The LCA is important for the optimisation of the products and the production lines in terms of energy consumption, environmental impact, material consumption. It is also useful for comparing the environmental impacts of this type of modules with other PV modules and also other sources of regenerative or fossile energy. It is the first LCA of thin-film solar modules which is based on data coming fom real production lines and is therefore much more reliable than former LCA. It also comprises data on recycling processes and thus helps to decide about the introduction of recycling from the environmental point of view.